Drawbridge for railways.



W. A. OASLER. DRAWBRIDGB FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION PILEIJ- JAN. 3, 1912.

Patented Dec. 3, 1912.

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W. A. GA SLBR. DRAWBRIDGB FOR RAILWAYS. APPLICATION FILED JAN.3, 1912.

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Patented Dec. 3, 1912.

a SHEETS-SHEET s. 4 5d I 90 Mul -44 I Altome W1 NESSES WILLIAM A.CASLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAWIBRID GE FOR RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1912.

Application filed January 3, 1912. Serial No. 669,217.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. CAsLnR, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDrawbridges for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for looking railway rails on drawbridges and the invention is particularly adapted for use in drawbridges, the draw of which operates vertically.

An object of this invention is to provide novel means for locking thedraw section, or the movable section of a draw bridge in its closedposition so that the rails of a track at the joint of the movable andstationary sections of the rail may be held in alinement and in closeproximity.

Furthermore, an object of this invention is to provide novel means forholding latches or looking devices against movement into lockingposition while the draw or movable section of the bridge is beingoperated or prior to the time the sections of the rail are in alinement.

A still further object of this invention is to provide novel means onthe draw or movable section of the bridge coacting with a guide orsocket on the stationary portion of the bridge whereby the sections ofthe rail at their joints are caused to aline, thereby making it possibleto utilize rail sections having very close joints.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists inthe details of construction and in the arrangement and combination ofparts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein likecharacters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in'which Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of a fragment of a stationarysection of a draw bridge and a fragment of a movable section of the drawbridge, the draw section being closed; Fig. 2 illustrates 'a plan viewof a fragment of the stationary section of the draw bridge, the latchesor bolts being in difierent positions of adjustment, that is to sayopen; Fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view.

on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 illustrates a sectional view the sameas Fig. 3 except that the parts are in different positions ofadjustment; and Fig. 5 illustrates a sectional view on the line 5-5 ofFig. 3. showing the guides and the guiding tooth in assembled position.

In these drawings 10 denotes a bed plate adapted to be secured to theroadbed of a stationary section of a draw bridge, the said bed platesupporting the tread rails 11 and 12 which tread rails may be of anyordinary construction. The said bed plate 10 further contains the guardrails or guides 13 and 1a which are located in such relation to thetread rails as to guard against accidental disengagement of wheels ofthe rolling stock from the rails, or damage to adjacent structure,roadbed or rolling stock should such derailment occur.

The movable section of the bridge has tread rails 27 and 28 which aredesigned to aline with the tread rails 11 and 12 respectively of thestationary section and the movable section is furthermore provided withguard rails 29 and 30 which aline with the guard rails 18 and 14Lrespectively of the stationary section of the bridge.

Transversely disposed guides 17 and 18 are provided for the bolts orlatches 19 and 20, the said latches being slidable in said guides andbeing operated under the control of a lever 21. The tread rails 27 and28 are provided with seats or recesses 15 and 16 respectively to receivethe outer ends of the latches 19 and 20 when thrown to the lockedposition. The latches 19 and 20'have their inner ends connected to thelever 21 by the links 22 and 23 respectively the said links havingturnbuckles 24 and 25 respectively by which they may be adjusted inlength and thus locate and fix the movement of each of the latches 19and 20. The lever 21 is pivoted on the stud 26 rising from the bed plateand the links are connected to the lever as shown on opposite sides ofthe said stud. I

For the purpose of describing the latch guard which is provided for eachlatch, one of the said guards will be described which is associated withthe sections of the guard rails on the stationary and movable sectionsof the bridge, it being thought that a description of one of the saidlatch guards will be sufficient to enable those skilled in the art togain a lmowledge of the construction and operation thereof, andtherefore,

will be regarded as the guard rail 14, has a longitudinally disposedrecess 31 extending from its end inwardly. Transversely disposed in saidrecess 31 is a pivot 32 which is supported by the sides of the guardrail, the said pivot forming a support for a safety guard 33 which hasone end projecting from the end of the guard rail 14. The safety guardat its inner end or the end projecting within the guard rail 1a ismovable into and out of the path of travel of the latch or bolt 20 andis held normally downward by a C-shaped spring 34 having one of itsportions bearing against the upper surface of the said guard and anotherportion bearing against the upper wall of the recess 31. The latch 20 isnotched to form a shoulder and it is the shoulder 35 that is engaged bythe guard, when the said guard is in the path of travel of the latch.The outer end of the guard 31 is provided with avertically adjustablescrew 36 which is held in different positions of adjustment by a jam nut37, the said screw 36 having its upper end in the path of travel of theguard rail 30 on the movable section of the bridge. The guard rail 30has a recess 38 extending longitudinally from its end into which theguard 33 projects, as shown in Fig. 3 and as the movable section of thebridge is caused to swing or move downwardly into'alinement with thestationary section thereof, the guide rail 30 contacts the screw 36 andforces the outer end of the guard downwardly, thereby lifting the innerend of the guard out of the path of travel of the latch, thus permittingthe operation of the latch in order that the said latch may be caused toengage the movable tread rail for the purpose of locking said treadrails in alinement. As shown in Fig. 4, the movable section of thebridge containing the guard rail 30 is omitted; the said parts beingspaced in their relative said guard is then operated under the influenceof the spring 34 so that it is pressed into the line of travel of thelatch 20 andsaid latch is prevented from moving to a closed position andthis relation of parts is maintained during all of the time that thedraw is openand it is only upon the return of" the draw to its normalposition that the guard is operated to release the latch to permit thesaid latch to be moved to a locked position, as stated.

As a means for effecting an alinement of the tread rails, the bed plateis provided with an aperture 39 for eachrail and the guides 40 areattached to the under side of the bed plate at opposite edges of theopening 39, the said guides extending downwardly to form a way in whicha guiding tooth 41 which depends from the base of the tread rails maytravel. The guiding tooth is tapered at its lower end thus forming a camwhich serves to guide the said tooth into the opening 39 in the bedplate. The

' tooth is so constructed and the tapered portion so spaced below thebase of the tread rail that the tread rail sections are brought intoalinement before engaging each other, and it has been found in practicethat the presence of the guiding tooth coacting with the guide resultsin forcing the movable and stationary sections of the tread rails intoexact alinement and that consequently the spaces between the twosections may be relatively small without liability of injuring the edgesof'the said sections when they move with relation to each other.

I claim 1. In a draw bridge for railways, a stationary track sectionhaving rails thereon, a movable track section having rails adapted toaline with the rails of the stationary section, guide ways on thestationary section, bolts operating in the guide ways, the said boltsadapted to engage the rails on the movable section when the sections arein a closed position.

2. In a draw bridge for railways, a track section comprising two rails,a stationary support for the rails, movable rails adapted to aline withthe stationary rails, stationary guard rails having ways therein, boltsslidable in said ways adapted to interlock with the movable rails, andmeans for hold ing said bolts inoperative when the sections are in anopen position. 7

3. In a draw bridge for railways, a track section comprising two rails,a stationary support for the rails, movable rails adapted I to alinewith the stationary rails, stationary guard rails having waystherethrough, boltsslidablein said ways adapted to interlock withmovable rails, means for operating said bolts, means for arresting saidbolts, and means under the control of the movable section of the trackfor moving the means for arresting the bolts.

4- In a draw bridge for railways, a stationary track section comprisingtread rails I and guard rails, a movable track section comprising treadrails and guard rails i11- tenneshing with the stationary tread railsand guard rails, each of said movable guard rails having longitudinallydisposed recesses therein, each of the stationary guard rails havinglongitudinally extending recesses therein, and transversely disposedopenings merging with the recesses, locking bolts slidable in thetransversely disposed openings adapted to enter recesses in themovableguard rails for holding the said guard rails locked, means for holdingthe bolts against movement when the movable track sections are out ofoperative position with relation to the stationary track sections, andmeans actuated by the movable track sections for operating the means forholding the bolts against movement.

5. In a draw bridge for railways, a stationary track section comprisingtread rails and guard rails, a movable track section comprising treadrails and guard rails intermeshing with the stationary tread rails andguard rails, each of said movable guard rails having longitudinallydisposed recesses therein, each of the stationary guard rails havinglongitudinally extending recesses therein, and transversely disposedopenings merging with the recesses, locking bolts slidable in thetransversely disposed openings adapted to enter the recesses in themovable guard rails for holding the said guard rails locked, means foroperating the bolts in unison, means for holding the bolts againstmovement when the movable track sections are out of operative positionwith relation to the stationary track sections, and means actuated bythe movable track sections for operating the means for holding the boltsagainst movement.

6. In a draw bridge for railways, a stationary track section, a movabletrack section, bolts extending transversely of the stationary tracksection adapted to interlock with the movable track section, shouldersformed on the bolts, shoulder engaging devices on the stationary'tracksection for limiting the movement of the said bolts, and means engagedby the movable track section for holding the bolt arresting members outof the path of travel of the said bolts.

7. In a draw brid e for railways, a track section comprising two rails,a stationary support for the rails, movable rails adapted to aline withthe stationary rails, stationary guard rails having ways therein,movable guard rails, bolts slidable in said ways adapted to interlockwith the movable rails, means for operating said bolts, means forarresting said bolts, and means under the control of the movable sectionof the track for moving the means for arresting the bolts.

8. In a draw bridge for railways, a stationary track section having abed plate provided with an aperture, a movable track section adapted toswing or move vertically, said movable track section having a guidingmember depending therefrom, the said guiding member having a taperedend, and adapted to aline with and enter the aperture of the bed plate,and said tapered end being so arranged on the movable rail sections toguide the said rail sections into close alinement before they engageeach other.

9. In a. draw bridge for railways, a stationary track section comprisingtread rails and guard rails, a movable track section comprising treadrails and guard rails intermeshing with the stationary tread rails andguard rails, transversely disposed guides on the stationary tracksection, locking bolts slidable in the transversely disposed guidesadapted to enter recesses in the movable tread rails for holding thesaid tread rails locked, longitudinally extending recesses merging withthe transversely disposed guides, means for operating the bolts inunison, means for holding the bolts against movement when the movabletrack sections are out of operative position with relation to thestationary track section, and means actuated by the movable tracksections for operating the means for holding the bolts against movement.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

WILLIAM A. GASLER.

Witnesses:

GEO. J. MURBACH, C. E. OLsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

